U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan met on Thursday with Brazilian far-right President Jair Bolsonaro on a visit focused on democracy and regional security, climate change and cooperation in response to COVID-19.
Sullivan’s visit was the highest-level U.S. visit to Brazil since the Biden administration took office almost eight months ago and was aimed at advancing ties between the hemisphere’s two largest democracies, the U.S. Embassy said in a statement.
It came amid a growing political clash between Bolsonaro and Brazil’s judiciary over his insistence that the electronic voting system was open to fraud and should be changed.
His opponents say Bolsonaro, like former U.S. President Donald Trump, is sowing doubts in case he loses next year’s election. He has threatened not to accept the result.
Sullivan also met with three state governors from the Amazon to discuss their plans and strategies to combat climate change, deforestation and illegal mining, and protect indigenous rights.
The governors met last week by videoconference with U.S. climate envoy John Kerry, sidestepping Bolsonaro, in the first of several meetings with foreign powers to seek funding for conservation projects aimed at stopping climate change.
